Bleakley Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,621 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $840,885,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $802,968,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after buying an additional 2,666,449 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Progressive by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,721,345 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $871,826,000 after buying an additional 1,361,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 31.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $666,004,000 after buying an additional 1,154,591 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE PGR opened at $206.14 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $212.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $120.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $196.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.04.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $16.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.10 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 21.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $93,251.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,725,350.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $93,251.24. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,725,350.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 44,629 shares of company stock valued at $8,348,176. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $227.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $144.00 to $176.00 in a research report on Monday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.00.

Progressive Company Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.